7 Useful Sites When Buying a House in the UK

Making the decision to buy a house can be a massive one which will impact the people involved for possibly the rest of their lives, so it should not be taken lightly.

It can be a huge strain on one’s purse so we have pulled together a number of websites to visit before buying a house which could potentially save you money in the short and long term. Check them out.

1. Money Saving Experts

MSE, as it is commonly called, is a very popular website for what the name says – saving money. It prides itself on providing information to help people make financially sound decisions in life, including when it comes to buying a house.

They have a very active forum where people ask all sorts of questions and get various responses from experts and everyday people. One of their articles – 50 House buying tips is very popular for finding useful information on buying a house.

2. Rightmove & Zoopla

These two websites are very important for people looking to buy a house as they are great for searching for houses to buy across the UK. They provide information on the price, pictures of the house and opportunity to get in touch with the letting agents.

In some cases, they also give you an idea of the cost of running a property including the council tax, utility bills and many others. They also provide a quick summary of the area including local stations and schools.

Personally, I’ve found Rightmove easier to search for houses and general information but Zoopla better for researching historic data about the house and the neighbourhood, so it's hard to recommend one over the other.

3. Reallymoving.com

Reallymoving.com provides comparison services for local conveyancing lawyers and property solicitors in the UK, as well as surveyors and home removal services. This provides another opportunity to save money when buying a house as the cost of conveyancing, various surveys required and stamp duties tend to add up.

This site would help you find either a local lawyer or online one and provide decent quotes. They also have a useful Moving Cost Calculator which estimates how much buying or selling a house would cost you based on a few details you put into it, quite handy at the starting point of a house hunt.

4. Experian, Noodle & Equifax

The difference in credit scores can be the difference in getting approved for a mortgage or not. A credit score is based on one’s credit history so if you know you’re looking to buy a house at some point it is very important to start working on your credit score to ensure there aren’t any surprises on it.

Noodles offer a free credit score for life service, while Experian and Equifax offer an initial free period. Even if your credit score isn't great, these websites will give you useful tips and things to do to help improve your score

5. Gov.uk School Performance Tables

Lastly, if you are a parent, you want to make sure your areas of interest(s) have good schools and facilities for your children. What are the school ratings? Are they oversubscribed? Will your child be able to get into the school in year? How close is the nearest school to you?

Websites like the Gov.uk will be very useful for answering such school related questions. They might not go into much detail about the school but they're a good starting point, especially when you want to narrow it down from a very long list.

There you have it, five excellent websites which should help you get a little bit closer to your dream house.